JJ Fernandez - 2016

[goulik]

Outfield-Cedar Rapids

Born March 30, 1994

Drafted 7th round 2012 out of International Baseball Academy in Puerto Rico.

215/268/241 Last year for Cedar Rapids in 214 at bats.

Originally a catcher, Fernandez spent a lot of time at first base last year and is now listed as an Outfielder on the Cedar Rapids Roster. Fernandez spent all of 2012 and 13 with the GCL Twins, 2014 in Elizabethton, and all of last year with Cedar Rapids.

[goulik]

221/295/329 in 140 At Bats. JJ has struck out 36 times and committed 3 errors...just not a lot to get excited about...

He has spent the vast majority of his time in RF but one of his three errors was at first base. (The other two were in Right) During his 8 innings behind the dish he also managed a passed ball.

Wow, most of these updates I'm doing lately are not very exciting are they

[goulik]

With 13 fewer at bats, his numbers at CR are very similar to last year. 214/281/333. Im still not excited.

[goulik]

221/294/355 in 262 at bats. If your looking for positives, he has almost twice the number of walks as last year, 24 to 13.

In the field, JJ has played all but 9 games in RF with 5 errors and a .951 fpct this year and a career .943 in right. JJ has also played at first 8 games defensively which makes little sense with his low slugging numbers. He still only has that one game behind the dish.

JJ had one real nice year in 2014 in Elizabethan where he hit 321/361/440 for an 802 OPS. He needs to refind that mojo soon or he may be playing his last year in the organization. FWIW, that's the only year he played exclusively at Catcher.

[goulik]

At 22 years old and in his fifth year in the minors, 219/290/348 is not going to cut it and may lead to your own cut as soon as there is a replacement.

[goulik]

2016 Wrap Up

Fernandez spent 1 game catching, 141 innings at first and 772.2 innings in RF where he had a 970 fpct. His 225/293/363 final slash isn't gonna cut it in RF but apparently he is not seen as a serviceable catcher. Repeating CR after an injury plagued 2015 wasn't surprising but he needed to dominate in his second season there. He didn't.

 

Outlook for 2017

He did hit 26 doubles and 10 home runs and he did hit .304 over the last 10 games but I really don't see Fernandez sticking with the team. JJ did not earn a promotion to high A so If he is back in CR next year he needs to be hot early or he will be gone by mid season.